Corwin Leads Sterling College Forensics Team at Nationals

The Sterling College Forensics Team capped the season with nine out of ten team members bringing home awards at the Pi Kappa Delta National Tournament. The tournament was held March 23-26 at Mt. Hood Community College in Portland, Ore. With more than 70 colleges competing and many events having more than 200 competitors, the Sterling College team fared well with Ryan Corwin capturing 7th place overall in After Dinner Speaking. This success comes after the Sterling College Debate team took 9th place in National Parliamentary Debate, of which Corwin was also a part.

Corwin, a junior from Sterling, Kan., has competed in After Dinner Speaking all season, consistently advancing to finals. "I had fared well all season, but most of those finishes had been at smaller regional tournaments, so to finish well at nationals was a sweet, stimulating reward," said Corwin.

ADS (After Dinner Speaking) calls for the competitor to deliver an original persuasive speech that is humorous in nature. Corwin's speech focused on the hypocrisy of Americans bashing athletes for using performance enhancing drugs, while many of us are users of caffeine, nicotine and pain relievers, all of which could be considered performance enhancements.

In addition, team members Emily Graham of Hutchinson, Kan., Jessica Brayton of Lyons, Kan., Alex Lawhon-Bush of Halstead, Kan., and Shelby Twiss of Garden City, Kan., were recognized with awards of excellence in Extemporaneous Speaking, Fay Carey and Melzora Towne, both of Sterling, Kan., were excellence award winners in debate along with Shelby Twiss and Emily Graham. Jessica Brayton received an excellence award in Informative Speaking and Impromptu Speaking, Alex Lawhon-Bush received an excellence award in Persuasive and Ryan Corwin received an award of excellence in Editorial Impromptu in addition to his award in After Dinner Speaking. In order to receive an award of excellence, the competitor has to finish in the top 20% of all competitors in the given event.